Apple shipped the Screenshot toolbar to every Mac back in 2018 with macOS Mojave, and it quietly turned a paid utility category into a built-in feature. Yet one question still dominates support forums years later: why does the recording come out silent? The short answer is that capturing narration and capturing the sound playing inside your Mac are two very different jobs, and only one of them is easy.
This guide walks through both. It covers the built-in tools, the permission settings that trip people up, and the workarounds that actually capture system audio without hours of fiddling.
The Two Kinds of Audio (and Why It Matters)
Before touching a single menu, separate the problem in two. Microphone audio is your voice, a narrator track, or anything picked up by a physical or virtual mic. System audio is everything the Mac itself plays: a YouTube video, a game soundtrack, a Zoom call, a music app.
The built-in macOS recorder handles the first reliably. The second has historically required extra software, because Apple treats internal audio capture as a privacy-sensitive operation. That distinction explains almost every “my recording has no sound” complaint.
If you are new to capturing your desktop in general, a primer on how to record your computer screen is worth a skim before diving into the audio specifics.
Method 1: The Built-In Screenshot Toolbar
This is the fastest route and needs no downloads. Apple documents the workflow in its official guide to screen recordings, and the steps have stayed stable for several macOS generations.
- Press Shift + Command + 5. A small floating toolbar appears.
- Click the icon on the far right for Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion.
- Click Options to open the settings panel.
- Under Microphone, pick your input device. If you want narration, choose the built-in mic or your headset. If you want silence, choose None.
- Under Save to, pick Desktop, Documents, or another folder. You can also set a timer.
- Click Record, then perform whatever you need to capture.
- Stop via the Stop button in the menu bar, or press Command + Control + Esc.
- A thumbnail appears in the corner. Click it to trim, share, or save.
The Options panel is where most people discover the catch: there is no “system audio” entry. Apple simply does not offer it in this toolbar. That is not a bug, and no amount of clicking will reveal a hidden toggle.
Common mistake: people select their microphone, record a video playing in a browser, and then wonder why the browser sound is missing. The mic captured the room, not the app.
Method 2: QuickTime Player
QuickTime Player ships with every Mac and offers a slightly different path to the same result. Open the app, then choose File > New Screen Recording. A small control appears with a dropdown arrow beside the record button.
From that dropdown you can select a microphone. Recording works the same way: hit record, click to start full-screen capture or drag to select an area, then stop from the menu bar. QuickTime gives you one advantage over the toolbar: the finished file opens directly in an editor where you can trim the start and end, split clips, and export at a chosen resolution.
For quick tutorials, bug reports, or screen-share walkthroughs where your voice is the only audio you need, QuickTime is perfectly adequate. For anything involving music, game sound, or a video’s own audio track, it hits the same wall as the toolbar.
Fixing Permissions When Nothing Records
A blank or failed recording is usually a permissions problem, not a broken tool. macOS gates screen capture behind a privacy control, and apps that have not been granted access will either fail silently or record a black screen.
- Open System Settings (called System Preferences on older versions).
- Go to Privacy & Security.
- Open Screen Recording and toggle on the app you are using.
- Open Microphone and do the same for narration.
- Quit and relaunch the app. This step is mandatory and is the single most skipped instruction.
That last point deserves emphasis. macOS often requires a full restart of the capturing app before the new permission takes effect. If you granted access and the recording is still black, relaunch before troubleshooting anything else.
While you are in Privacy & Security, it is also a sensible moment to check for anything unfamiliar with recording access. A quick pass on how to check for malware on a mac covers what to look for.
Capturing System Audio: The Real Workarounds
Here is where the honest answer gets less tidy. Apple has adjusted internal audio behavior across releases, and what works on one macOS version may differ on the next. Rather than promise a magic toggle, treat the options below as a ladder, from simplest to most flexible.
| Approach | Captures mic | Captures system audio | Setup effort | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screenshot toolbar | Yes | No | None | Narrated tutorials |
| QuickTime Player | Yes | No | None | Quick clips with voiceover |
| Third-party recorder with audio driver | Yes | Yes | Low to medium | Most general use |
| OBS Studio plus virtual audio device | Yes | Yes | High | Streaming, multi-source mixes |
| External capture hardware | Yes | Yes | Medium (costs money) | Consoles, protected content |
Third-Party Recorders
The pragmatic route for most people is a dedicated screen recorder. Many commercial apps bundle a small audio driver that lets them tap internal sound, and they present it as a simple dropdown: “System Audio” next to “Microphone.” You install, grant permissions, and record. The tradeoff is cost and a background helper process.
If you also write or debug code on your machine, it is worth knowing which editors and tools behave well with these background helpers, so check a current roundup of the best code editor for mac before adding more system extensions than you need.
OBS Studio With a Virtual Audio Device
OBS Studio is free, open source, and genuinely powerful, but it is built for streaming rather than quick captures. Capturing desktop sound usually means installing a virtual audio driver, routing the Mac’s output into it, and then adding that device as a source in OBS. The result is excellent: separate tracks for mic and system audio that you can balance in post.
The cost is setup time and a learning curve. Expect an afternoon of tinkering the first time. Once configured, though, it is the most flexible option on this list by a wide margin.
Common mistake: recording system audio and microphone onto a single combined track. If your voice is too loud or too quiet relative to the video, you cannot fix it later. Always record separate tracks when the tool allows it.
The Speaker-and-Mic Trick
The oldest workaround is to play audio out loud through your speakers and let the microphone pick it up. It works, technically. It also captures keyboard clatter, fan noise, and room echo, and the quality is noticeably worse. Use it only as a last resort when you need a thirty-second clip and nothing else is available.
Practical Tips That Save Reruns
Do a ten-second test recording first. Record a short clip with both your voice and the audio you intend to capture, then play it back with headphones. This single habit prevents the most common outcome: a twenty-minute recording with no sound.
Clean up the desktop before you start. Notifications, private messages, and browser tabs all end up in the final file. Turn on Do Not Disturb and close anything sensitive.
Check your storage. Screen recordings are large. A 1080p capture can eat several gigabytes per hour, and a full drive will end the recording abruptly. Clear space first.
Record at a sensible resolution. Capturing a 5K display at full resolution produces enormous files that are slow to share. Downscaling to 1080p is usually the right call for tutorials.
Learn the stop shortcut. Command + Control + Esc ends a toolbar recording from anywhere. Fumbling for the menu bar mid-demo looks sloppy in the final cut.
Note your macOS version. Menu labels and privacy pane names have shifted across releases. If you are following a guide written for an older system, expect small differences and do not assume the instructions are wrong.
A Note on Editing and Undoing Mistakes
Screen recordings almost always need trimming. You will catch a false start, a notification, or a tangent that should not ship. Most editors support a standard undo, and knowing the undo shortcut key for windows and mac by reflex makes cleanup much faster. The same goes for redoing an edit you reversed by accident with the redo shortcut key for windows and mac. (Screencast)
If your finished recording is destined for a document or a bug report rather than a video, a still frame is often more useful than a clip. Learning how to take a screenshot on a mac takes about a minute and covers the annotation tools you will want.
Which Method Should You Choose?
Match the tool to the job rather than forcing one workflow onto everything.
- Narrated tutorial, no app sound: the built-in toolbar. Zero setup, zero cost.
- Quick clip with trimming: QuickTime Player.
- Game footage, video essays, anything with music or app audio: a third-party recorder with a bundled audio driver, or OBS if you want full control.
- Console or protected content: external capture hardware is the reliable answer.
The pattern is consistent: the moment internal audio matters, the built-in tools stop being enough. Accept that early and you will save an hour of hunting for a setting that does not exist.
Conclusion
Recording a Mac screen with audio comes down to one question: is the sound coming from your mouth or from the machine? For narration, macOS has you covered with two free, capable tools and a keyboard shortcut you will memorize within a day. For system audio, you need a third-party layer, and the honest tradeoff is between simplicity (a paid recorder) and control (OBS with a virtual audio device).
Whatever route you take, grant permissions first, relaunch the app, and run a short test capture before committing to a long session. Those three habits prevent nearly every silent-recording disaster. The tools are good. The setup is just less automatic than most people expect.
FAQ
Why is my Mac screen recording silent?
The built-in Screenshot toolbar and QuickTime Player capture microphone audio only. If you recorded a video playing on your Mac and heard nothing, the tool never captured system audio in the first place. You need a third-party recorder or a virtual audio device to capture internal sound.
Does macOS capture system audio natively now?
Apple has adjusted internal audio behavior across releases, and the built-in tools have historically excluded it. Check Apple’s current support documentation for your specific macOS version rather than relying on older tutorials, since menu options and capabilities have changed over time.
How do I record my voice and the Mac’s audio at the same time?
Use a tool that supports multiple audio sources, such as a third-party recorder with a system audio driver or OBS Studio with a virtual audio device. Record them as separate tracks so you can balance the levels afterward. Combining both onto one track locks in any volume imbalance permanently.
Why is my screen recording just a black screen?
This is almost always a permissions issue. Open System Settings, go to Privacy & Security, then Screen Recording, and enable the app you are using. Quit the app completely and relaunch it. The permission does not take effect until the app restarts.
What is the keyboard shortcut to stop a screen recording?
Press Command + Control + Esc to stop a recording started from the Screenshot toolbar. You can also click the stop button in the menu bar. QuickTime Player uses its own on-screen stop control instead.
Can I record system audio for free?
Yes, but it takes setup. OBS Studio is free and open source, and free virtual audio drivers exist to route your Mac’s output into it. The tradeoff is configuration time, especially the first run. Paid recorders bundle the same capability into a simpler interface.
